At night, winter stole through the trees to see if his time would soon come. When he found a flower, he kissed her politely and said:
"Well, well, are you there still? I am glad to see you. Stay where you are. I am a harmless old man and wouldn't hurt a fly."
But the flower shuddered at his kiss and the bright dew-drops hanging from her petals froze to ice at the same moment.
Winter went oftener and oftener through the wood. He breathed upon the leaves, till they turned yellow, or upon the ground, till even the anemones, who lay below in the earth, waiting for Dame Spring to come again as she had promised, could feel his breath and shuddered right down to their roots:
"Oh dear, how cold it is!" they said to one another. "How ever shall we last through the winter? We are sure to die before it is over."
"Now my time has come," said winter. "Now I need no longer steal round like a thief in the night. From to-morrow, I shall look every one straight in the face and bite his nose and make his eyes run with tears."
At night, the storm broke loose.
"Let me see you make a clean sweep of things," said winter.
And the storm obeyed his orders. He tore howling through the wood and shook the branches till they creaked and broke. Any that were at all decayed fell down and those that held on had to twist and turn to every side.
"Away with all that finery!" howled the storm and tore off the leaves. "This is no time to dress yourselves up. Soon there will be snow on the branches: that's another story."